In the early hours of Tuesday morning (February 18), a string of arrests in Istanbul targeted journalists, artists, and politicians affiliated with the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), a pro-worker left-wing political union associated with the pro-Kurdish DEM Party. The arrests, ordered by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor, are reportedly part of a larger investigation related to the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).

A total of 52 individuals were taken into custody early Tuesday and brought to the Istanbul Security Directorate.

Members of the Labor Party, Green Left Party, DEM Party, Revolutionary Party, Socialist Party of the Oppressed, and the Socialist Refoundation Party were among the detained.

Labor Party chair Seyit Aslan released a statement Tuesday morning condemning the raids. Labor Party’s previous chair Ercüment Akdeniz was reportedly among the detainees.

The Green Left Party........

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